JOHNSON, B. D.: The Phylogeography of the Western Hognose Snake A large fragment of the mitochondrial ND2 gene was sequenced from a number of populations to assess the rangewide phylogeography of western hognose snakes, Heterodon nasicus. The resulting analyses designate Las Cruces, New Mexico, as representative of a deeply ancestral lineage and suggest an intriguing […]

Pesavento, Jim J. *; Near, Thomas J.; Cheng, Chi-Hing C.: The Phylogenentic Investigations of the Perciformes (Actinopterygii) and the Origin of the Antarctic Notothenioidei: Inferences for Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Sequences. Comprising approximately 9,300 species, the Perciformes represents the largest order of vertebrates. Perciform fishes are the dominate component of vertebrate ocean life. The Antarctic […]

Hochberg, R.*; Litvaitis, M. K.: The Nervous and Muscular System of Dactylopodola baltica from a Phylogenetic Perspective Attempts to infer gastrotrich phylogeny from morphological characters has revealed the family Dactylopodolidae to be the sister taxon to the rest of the Macrodasyida. Dactylopodola retains several plesiomorphic characteristics making the genus worthy of attention for further phylogenetic […]

LOVEJOY, C.O.; RENO, P.L.*; MCCOLLUM, M.A.; HAMRICK, M.W.; MEINDL, R.S.; COHN, M.J.: The Evolution of Primate Hands: Growth scaling registers with posterior HOXD expression The hands of great apes and humans are very similar morphologically but differ systematically in digital proportions. This implies a modular basis of size. Since Abdominal-B-related Hox genes have been shown […]

Jacobs, M.W.*; Davis, J.M.; Swalla, B.J.: The Evolution of Coloniality in Stolidobranch Ascidians: a Phylogenetic Analysis Coloniality and the ability to reproduce asexually may confer strong advantages under certain environmental circumstances. However, only a few phyla within the invertebrates contain colonial species. Shifting between colonial and solitary lifestyles involves alteration of a whole suite of […]

Place, S.P.*; Hofmann, G.E.: Temperature-protein interactions of the molecular chaperone Hsc70 purified from a eurythermal goby Many heat shock proteins (Hsps) are known molecular chaperones that are fundamental to protein folding. Although a great deal is known about Hsps as molecular chaperones in model systems (e.g., E. coli and cultured mammalian cells), very little is […]

CUNYUS, V.L.; GOMEZ, A. L.; JOHNSON, G. W.; JOHNSON, J.D.; IRWIN, L.N.*: Taxonomic Utility of Random Genetic Variation in Lizards We have used the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique to assess the utility of random genomic variation as a taxonomic trait at the Family level and below. We hypothesized that genomic similarity as measured […]

Nichols, P. Brent*; Garey, James R.: Tardigrade Evolutionary Relationships Tardigrades are a phylum of at least 750 species of small (0.1-0.5 mm) animals commonly known as water bears. They are allied with the arthropods and onychophorans within Panarthropoda. They live in marine, freshwater aquatic, and limno-terrestrial environments and feed mainly on the cytoplasmic fluid of […]

DIOGO, R.*; OLIVEIRA, O.; PARMENTIER, E.; CHARDON, M.; VANDEWALLE, P.: THE ORIGIN AND TRANSFORMATION OF CATFISH (TELEOSTEI: SILURIFORMES) PALATINE-MAXILLARY SYSTEM: AN EXAMPLE OF ADAPTIVE MACROEVOLUTION The adaptive value of siluriform barbels in muddy waters dwellers and nocturnal fish is evident and was moreover demonstrated experimentally. The maxillary ones are characterized by their connection to a […]

PARMENTIER, E.*; LAGARDERE, F.; DIOGO, R.; VANDEWALLE, P.: Study of the otoliths and otic area in Carapidae fishes : Eco-morphological implications ? Carapidae-family species are characterised by so-called otophysical structures (sonic muscles, broad first apophyses covering the anterior part of the swimbladder, etc.) The family includes pelagic (e.g..Pyramodon sp.) and benthic (e.g. Echiodon sp.) species […]